On Mastery

“You can reach, but you can’t grab it.
“You can’t hold it, control it
You can’t bag it.”

- U2, “Discotheque”

“Mastery is an asymptote”

I love this insight. It comes from Dan Pink in “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us”. Not only does it explains that feeling of the elusive pursuit, it explains why some like to take shortcuts – even though it dooms them to being unfulfilled. Amazingly, the doom is the same if one isn’t a cheat, yet the difference in the state of mind is stark. There is such joy in an honest attempt that the result becomes secondary.